Precious and cherished – try saying that ten times fast.

Precious and cherished – try saying that ten times fast.

I led the worship service at St Peters on Sunday. It was a combined, all age service, meaning the whole church family was together for the whole service. That’s my favourite kind of service. It’s always a challenge, but I think its part of the challenge of being the church, living alongside one another, and learning to encounter God in the midst of unlikely fellow-pilgrims.

I’ve been reading a lot of Hairy McLary to my two year old Sam. Our favourite is ‘Rumpus at the Vets’ which he can nearly recite off by heart. So when I came to write an opening prayer, it came out all rhyming like, without much effort. I wanted to let the ordinary and the mundane stuff of life live alongside the holy, spiritual parts. I wanted to write something that acknowledged the breadth of the family of God, and the depth of who we are, and how God meets us wherever we are. As Karl Barth (sort of) said, ‘We can never fall further than God will stoop to reach us. So what is it to fall?’

Some of us will fidgetSome of us will fretSome will do that walkWhich means our nappy is quite wet

Some of us are dead boredSome of us are bone tiredSome of us aren’t sure what we feelWhen we look inside

But all of us are preciousAll of us belongEach one of us is cherishedBy our God whose love is strong

Some of us are beatenSome of us are proudSome of us are wondering If the music will be loud

Some dream of the futureSome long for the pastSome hope to see tomorrowSome wish this day were their last

But all of us are preciousAll of us belongEach one of us is cherishedBy our God whose love is strong

Some of us feel welcomeSome of us feel lostSome have clean forgottenThat God loves no matter the cost

For all of us are preciousAll of us belongEach one of us is cherishedBy our God whose love is strong.

7 Comments

Jannah

You are welcome to borrow it Jannah. It was quite incredible the response to it at church, I could hear the attentiveness increase as the prayer progressed! I will eat more cornflakes and wait for the mood to strike again.